meachum had a misfit use. he just told me 1973 was judge tericca. and, you know, outside the guys that wear white gloves while their family members are out hunting, the prince of dork-dome. >> adorabldorable. >> yes. thank you. >> way too early. what time is it, mike? >> it's time for "morning joe," but right now, it's time for chuck todd. as connecticut and the country continues to cope with the tragedy, unanswered questions on wa caused the gunman to commit such horrors. and some concern that we might not ever find out. back in washington, are we actually almost maybe sort of coming to a deal on a verdict on the so-called fiscal cliff? both sides have given in on some big key points, but is it enough to get it over the goal line? and the senate loses its most

senior member. daniel inouye, who helped hawaii become a state and served that state for more than a half a century in congress. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, december 18, 2012. president obama has told his administration to start looking for ways the country can respond to the tragedy in newtown. we'll be joined by vice president biden yesterday afternoon, the president talk with top members of his team including the vice president. arne duncan, attorney general larry holder and kathleen sa beale ya. this morning, children go back to school for the first time since last week's tragedy. newtown police as well as state troopers are expected to be on-site when schools open two hours later than unusual. sandy hook elementary, though, will remain closed. on monday, moving trucks arrived

at the school to transport furniture to chalk hill school in the neighboring town of monroe, which will reopen to accommodate the sandy hook students. >> they're taking pictures of all the walls, everything where all the decorations were and they were be painstakingly put back together as close as possible to recreate that room. >> monroe has opened their arms because we are a small, new england community. and our neighbors are our family. >> on monday, the first two funerals were held for victims of the family. noah pozner and jack pinto. today, 6-year-old jessica rekos, who loved everything about horses. they'll be laid to rest. a wake will be held for a 27-year-old teacher victoria soto who saved many of her students by locking them in the closet before she was shot herself. police are confirming that doult

two adults, not just one, who were shot at the school on friday survived and are recovering. and newtown high school where adam lanza attended, police say a psychologist was assigned to protect him. he suffered from a form of asperger's syndrome. he had another disorder. he was incentive to emotional and physical pain. neither condition has a clear connection to violence. >> i've been asked so many times, i can say it's impossible because we all watched him so closely. but somewhere after he graduated and went on in this world, sadly enough, he lost all that is important. >> four days after one of the worst mass shootings in american history, we still don't have an answer to the single question we all want the answer to, which is why. and some officials are wondering if we will ever know that answer. pete williams joins me now.

and i know, pete, you say there's been a lot of searching going on of these hard drives, the computers in the lanza household and authorities are pretty pessimistic. >> right. i think you're right to say there's some doubt about whether they will ever know why. not that any answer would be adequate, of course. but secondly, the hopes for a quick answer by finding something in the house, a note, a letter, something on his computer, there was no note or letter we're told and the hard drive was so damaged, they're having a very hard time getting anything useful off of it. now, what they will try to do is they'll look at the family billing records. they'll see what internet service provider was being used. they'll look at telephone records. they'll try to look at communicationes and try to come at it in a different direction instead of from the computer outward from the outside world inward to see if that can shed any light. but apparently, adam lanza was not a user of social media. there are no footprints on the internet that they've been able

to find. so the answer remains very elusive at this point, chuck. >> and i know there were reports this morning about other things found in the house, including video games and there's some of that that authorities want to use to try to put together the pieces on all this. >> right. i mean, that will be somewhat helpful, i guess. but in terms of something specific to him, other than the fact that he learned his proficiency with firearms from his mother and going to shooting ranges, that's about all that they know. >> all right. pete williams is on top of this investigation. pete, thanks very much. >> you bet. well, in the aftermath of the connecticut shooting, a number of pro gun rights democrats from red states are signaling an openness to new restriction owes guns. but any significant gun legislation would require some support from republicans. and so far, they remain silent. in 2010 west virginia senator joe mancion, a lifetime member of the nra ran this memorable a ad. >> as your senator, i'll protect

your second amendment rights. i sued epa and i'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill. >> on monday, manchin just one of among a handful of democrats who say when it comes to restrictions on guns, everything should be in the table. >> i don't know in my opinion in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. i don't know anybody that needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting. >> i've had an nra rating of an a. but, you know, enough is enough. my -- i've got -- i'm the father of three daughteres and this weekend, they all said, dad, you know, how can this go on? >> senator elect joe donnelley who was elected on a strong pro gun agenda, he said in an e-mail that, quote, all parties must come to the table to work on legislation. and democratic leader harry r d reid, a long standing supporter of guns himself, he went to the floor to say he is open to new

legislation on guns. >> we need to accept the reality that we're not doing enough to protect our citizens. in the coming days and weeks, we'll engage in a meaningful conversation and thoughtful debate about how to change laws and culture and allow this violence to continue to grow. >> california senator dianne feinstein, who has said she will bring a renewal of the assault weapons ban to the floor when the senate reconvened in january, quote, i talked to harry. he didn't say i will support you. he did say something has to be done. for something meaningful, though, to be done, it will likely require republican support. so far, republicans have stay e quiet. prematurity even to ask the question about reinstating the assault weapons ban. on the senate floor monday, republican leader mitch mcconnell talked movingly of the victims and notably did not mention any policy next step. >> we stand with the people of

newtown today and in the days ahead. we can do nothing to lessen their anguish. but we can let them know that we mourn with them. >> and while opponents protested the nra, the nra told nbc news it will not comment until the facts are thoroughly known. they deactivated their facebook page on sasht after celebrating getting to 1.7 million fans during the week, by the way. so it's the gun owners of america, a gun rights group to the right of the nra that's filling the void. the group's executive director, larry pratt, told "hardball"'s chris matthews, the sandy hook tragedy could have been averted if the teachers had been harmed. >> we've said, no, no, no, no, there's something really special and who knows what about those schools and maybe the teachers can't be trusted with a gun

there. >> would this be a less free country if you couldn't have an assault rifle? >> well yb away. >> wait a minute, wait a minute. >> and finally in some other news, we may be closer to a deal on the fiscal cliff than ever before and it may come down to selling any deal that boehner and obama strike to their respective rank and file. today, boehner will meet with house republicans after making an offer on friday to raise tax rates pore those that make above $1 million. yesterday the president count countered with expiration of bush tax rates for incomes over $400,000. that's the first time the president has budged on the $250,000 figure. in exchange, the white house is offering what it claims is $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. but that's under dispute by the republicans because they include $400 billion cuts to health

spending, $200 billion in nonhealth mandatory cuts and $200 billion in discretionary cuts. the plan would save monies by adjusting the way a lot of benefits are dealt with including social security and how it's calculated, the so-called consumer price index. but the white house counts $290 billion of saved interest and republicans who want a one to one ratio of tax hooits hikes to spending cuts are not happy with that last fact. michael speel released a statement saying any movement away from the unrealistic offers the president has made previously is a step in the right direction. but a proposal for $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced. the white house, though, is agreeing to the boehner principal of this on a one to one on this deal. and that means it's now about exchanging numbers. he's prepared to lose maybe half or more of his members, conservative groups have already

condemned his harder bargain. heritage action called it the grand capitulation. republicans rm urged not to concede on the debt ceiling. mean whooit on the left, the huffington post, there's a headline condemning obama's raw deal saying the president's offer targets the middle class and the elderly. it's the cpi index they're taking issue with. the way you used to be able to get a deal done in washington is quote/unquote if both sides complained. that means there was equal pain. the question is if that still applies today. we'll see. there has to be some movement here. is the threshold going to get moved up? how will the rank and file respond to speaker bain they are morning? he's not presenting them any plan, but when the update is done. and what happens? where are senate republicans? some of them are in a sour place. when do they decide to launch their quote/unquote plan bs, which would extend tax rates up to 250,000 and punt everything else? we'll see.

the next 24 hours are everything. they have to get a deal, a framework in place to avoid any sort of punt. now to a bit of good news, we could use it everywhere and here at nbc news we would like to show this, our colleague, richard engle and his crew are safe this morning after escaping gunmen in syria. they were held for five days before they were freed following a gun fight between the kidnappers and rebel forces in syria. they appeared on the "today" show this morning just hours after they release. here is a bit of the story. >> we were driving in syria about five days ago in wa we thought was a rebel-controlled area. we were with some of the rebels. and as we were moving down the road, a group of gunmen just literally jumped ott of the trees and bushes on the side of the road. there were probably 15 gunmen. they were wearing ski masks. they were heavily armed. they dragged ussous of the car.

they had a container truck positioned waiting by the side of the road. they put us into that container truck. we were with some gun men, some rebels who were escorting us. they executed one of them on the spot. then they took us to a series of safe houses and interrogation places. and they kept us blindfolded, bound. we weren't physically beaten or tortured. it was a lot of psychological torture. with regards to being killed, they made us choose which one would be shot first. they pretended to shoot ghazi several times. then they fired a gun up in the air. it can be a very traumatic experience. >> a harrowing ordeal for our colleagues. we're all very grateful that they ended up escaping unharmed. next, virginia governor bob

mcdonald who is all too familiar with the pain of a mass shoot, how his state changed gun laws and whether those laws have any teeth to it. plus, the growing number of voices in his state calling for tighter gun control. but first, look ahead at the president's schedule. it's another quiet day on the schedule and one that is mostly cleared, it appears, to deal with fiscal cliff negotiations. you're watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. you can prevent gas with beano meltaways, or treat gas with these after you get it. now that's like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses.

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if we have nations that are not as advanced that offers health care to their citizens, then the only thing that stops us is our will. on april 16th, 2007, 32 people were killed at virginia tech when a fellow student went on a shooting rampage before turning the gun on himself following that massacre. then governor tim cain signed legislation.

it was a measure that contained bipartisan support including the backing of the then republican attorney general and now republican governor bob mcdonald. good morning. >> good morning, chuck. >> implementing that law has not been as easy as getting it passed. explain why it's been difficult to implement this issue on trying to identify the issue of mental health in dealing with a gun issue. >> i was attorney general then. i worked very closely with the governor, in fact, during that first 30 days went to virginia tech and talked to a number of people. within 30 days, we have an executive order that we helped draft and design and make sure that if you were adjudicated but you got outpatient treatment, you still reported that. >> but that's the issue. you have to be adjudicated. >> true. true. >> and so is there anything more within the bounds of the constitution -- >> that's the challenge because short of a court adjudicating you, you have your civil rights as an american and you're

presumed to be sane. a court says that you are a danger to yourself or others, then you can be deprived of your rights. the problem was we weren't reporting outpatient mental health treatment, only inpatient. we have more disqualifications for felonies and mental health than just about any other state. bus that's the broader point, while we're grieving with what has happened with these kids, we need to do more in the mental health area as well as school safety. that's my focus. >> i understand. i want to get your reaction. you're an a-rated nra member. so is joe manchin. let me play what he said yesterday and get your reaction. >> okay. >> and i'm a proud nra member and always have been. we need to step down and move this dialogue to a reasonable approach. i don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. i don't know anybody that needs 30 rounds in the clip to go hunting. >> that last portion there.

could you imagine ever supporting a ban that limited, say, the sale of assault rifles, limited the sale of clip toes private citizens? >> i think we ought to look at a number of things. >> are you open to something like that? >> i don't think that's the first place that you look, chuck. first of all, we don't even have all the facts. one of the mistake sess when you're grieving and emotional is to make decisions that might not fit the problem. and what i did yesterday was issue an executive order creating school safety task force, directed all the school divisions and my cabinet members to review the safety audits we did before. >> wa do you want at school? should there be armed security? >> i think we do whatever is necessary to -- >> high schools do, isn't that right? >> high school resource officers and we justly fund them to be there. generally one per school. could that have presented something like what happened in

sandy hook? >> possibly. but we don't have all the facts now. i have five children. they all graduated from public schools in virginia. my wife and i sat in front of the tv saturday night looking at these parents grieving so these little kids, bullet riddled bodies. it's unfathomable that some human beings could do that in america. yet we've had a couple, one there and one here. when you get the facts, make prudent, reasonable decisions. >> but it does seem unfortunately there's a pattern of some sort. mentally unstable shooter. >> same in picture. >> same. >> virginia. aurora. clearly tucson and this. but it was the access to extra -- i mean, you can't sit here and deny that he had -- that all of these guys had arsenals and you have to say, is there a way that limits the amount of ammunition? would you be open to regulating

how people purchase ammunition? >> if it would be shown that it really worked to prevent crimes. and, you see, i think that's -- >> but how do you prove that without implementing the policy? >> well, we don't even have all the facts yet. i think we need to get those from what exactly happened and how he did get those. in virginia, the shooter there, cho, actually was able to legally purchase those firearms, had no prior record. and the question that you brought up is an important one. short of being ajoout adjudicated incompetent, if you have other mental health issues, at what point do we deprive you of your civil liberties, including the right to own a firearm. that's where the constitution is pretty clear. >> let me ask you about the culture of violence. take aurora. we're learning very little about the gunman. but apparently we know he was a gamer and we know video games are very violent. can you regulate that?

is that constitutionally -- at the end of the day, it's all about parenting, i think. that's still a big part of this. but can there be a public policy fix on culture? >> this is the most important question is the individual responsibility. his care and compassion for one another in the community. in other words, an affirming community, not bullying and some of the things that drive people to this kind of reaction. and what is our general duty within the culture in america to try to reduce violence and talk about problem solving in a rationale way as opposed to people acting out because they've been bullied or they're angry or they have some mental health issue? i think that is the bigger issue here, along with mental health and school safety and, yes, while looking at firearms laws to make sure that criminals and people that are mentally incompetent don't have access to them. i think that's all part of the discussion, chuck, that we should engage in. >> we'll have to leave it there. nice to see you. >> thanks. up next, remembering one of the giants of the u.s. senate.

a fixture of that chamber and a war hero who broke racial barriers. and still to come, the conversations happening at homes and schools and houses of worship across the country today about student safety and about the culture of violence in our country. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. amber .paul started north carolina based footsteps clothing which had a booming christmas pajama line. they added other holidays and eventually expanded to products that celebrate family life. for more, watch "your business" at 7:30 sunday mornings on msnbc.

from washington to honolulu, there is mourning for an icon, the senate's most senior member, daniel inouye. he died on monday. president obama said the country has lost a true american hero. the vice president called inouye one of the most honorable men i ever met in my life and one of the best friends you could hope

for. on the senate floor, he is even more remembered. >> a man who has lived and breathed the senate. if there were ever a patriot, inouye was that patriot. >> senator inouye was the second longest serving senator in the history of the chamber. he is one of only seven senators ever awarded the congressional medal of honor and only the second since the civil war. inouye petitioned the u.s. government in world war ii and was recognized for gallantry and leadership on the battlefield in italy. in that battle, young lieutenant inouye lost his right arm. while recovering from his wounds, he be friended a young soldier, a guy by the name of bob dole, a guy who he would partner with years later. in a same, bob doled called inouye one of the senate's giants. he pushed for hawaii statehood, became the state's first owed

voting representative, taking his seat in congress on august 21st, 1959, the same day hawaii became a state. he was the first japanese american who serve in congress. he was elected to the senate in 1962 and he served there ever since. inouye served a lifelong bipartisan friendship with a newby senator, a guy by the name of alaska's ted steven. the two called each other brothers. inouye took part in two of the biggest senate hearings in the 21st century and became a familiar face to many americans. first, there was watergate. >> the committee to re-elect the president and file a report with the government accounting office indicating that the committee had a surplus of $3.5 million and the end of may, another report was filed indicating a surplus of $4.5 million. weren't you curious as to why more money had to be raised, even with this surplus?

in then in 1987, he became a senate chairman into the joint investigation into the iran contra scandal and the hearings were televised nationally. >> are you telling us that the staff of the national security council can carry out functions that are forbidden to the cia without evading the laws of the lands? >> 2010 in a way became senate president pro tem. you know what that means, third in line of presidential succession, behind vice president biden and house speaker boehner. senator inouye was 88 years old and truly one of the great american war heros from the greatest generation. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit.

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newtown, columbine, virginia tech. that's all you need to say. those words alone summon images of shocking violence and death. they are some of the high profile examples of gun violence that kill thousands of americans each year. the incident of this mass murder that have commanded our attention but not always prompted any action by our elected officials. the list of the neigh's worst shootings is led by the massacre at virginia tech. 32 were killed by a single gunman. friday's shooting is now the country's second largest shooting ever. just one of these issues, when you look at the list, the largest took place in 1983. first of worst incidents have happened in the last five years.

virginia tech, newtown, ft.hood, bing hhamto binghamton, new york, and aurora theater. they aren't concentrated in any one part of the country, not confined to any particular setting. shootings have occurred at a pennsylvania hospital, a miami funeral home, a soccer tournament in delaware and a mall in oregon. 85 people died in those 14 incidents. many of them make news for a day or two. then they fade. although some incidents are big enough to prompt action a little bit. after the virginia tech massacre, we learned the gunman's history showed he had treated for mental issues for years. in response, then governor tom cain signed new mental health reform into law giving the sate more latitude to commit mentally ill people who pose a danger and commenting $42 million to the state's facility.

two years later, the state found no increase in the number of people committed and multiple cuts to the funding. earlier this year, in colorado, an attack exposed how easy it is to purchase ammunition online. the shooter wag able to bypass federal background checks and buy 3,000 rounds for a pair of glock handguns and 300 shotgun shells, a bullet proof vest and a high capacity magazine, all of its over the internet. because holmes had a clean record, the purchases were completely legal. the aurora shooting brought back influence of hollywood and the glorication of violence. afterwards, he told authorities that he was the joker. he had even died his hair to match heath ledger's character. five years later, adam lanza

opened fire in a newtown elementary school. how the nation chooses to answer these issues we mains to be seen. and trying to explore horrors like newtown to children and comfort them is extremely difficult. joining me now, rosa delora. she's been working this week to drive a discussion not just about guns, but about mental health treatment and helping kids cope with violence. congresswoman delora joins me now. let me ask you, i know you did this event yesterday at yale trying to sort of understand this conversation, understand how to kick off a conversation when you're talking about kids about violence in general but about this incident, what were some of the things -- i have small children. i know you have grown children and grandchildren. what was some of the advice that you received that you want to share? >> first of all, i just say this to you, chuck, that we don't

know -- how do you cope with what happened last friday as a parent? it's hard for parents to get their hands around this issue. let alone children understanding what has happened. and, in fact, why i went with how do we talk to our children about this, our grandchildren about it? >> right. >> and dr. marins talked about understanding your own children. some will want to talk. some will not. how do approach the conversation at the edges. do they have a sense of what is happening? how do engage in that conversation, what are they hearing? what are they hearing from their peers? and to be able to engage them at their particular level. and he provided a pointer. i would suggest to you, honestly, chuck, that this is

someone that ought to be -- ought to be -- you ought to be talking with. that ought to be talking with the country about how we engage with our youngsters and the professional quality of and the trained professional that we need to have in our schools to be able to deal with these issues. >> now let's talk about what i assume you'll be facing and tackling in the new part of 2013. that is, what is the public policy response? we've heard the conversation started on guns. i know there's been a conversation started about mental health. why does this go? where should it go? i know your support about seeing some of the assault weapon bans reinstated, things like that. but where should this conversation go so that it doesn't become politically divisive and polarizing where suddenly everybody by april is in their respective corners on the gun issue? >> well, that's, you know,

precisely the issue. it is complicated. for me, there are three pieces to this. i am in favor of banning a military-type assault weapons and the high capacity gun magazine. that being said, i think there are two other pieces to this. one is the mental health issue and the third is that, really, the glorification of violence in our society. and let me speak about the mental health issue for a moment. that comes under the jurisdiction of the labor health labor and human services subcommittee that i am the senior democrat on. we have the opportunity to look at the substance abuse and mental health issues. that is from an agency which is the -- the acronym is samhsa that deals with these kinds of services. we need to make sure that there is adequate funding for this effort. we need to look at the program

that is not only at the yale child study, but nationally we have about 50 centers that focus on children and their exposure to violence. >> let me push it right there. but the main nut of this issue, when it comes to mental health, is the fine line between privacy and -- >> that's right. >> what it is that we do to prevent those who might be mentally unstable access to these weapons. >> well, look. let's deal with, you know, we have not dealt with the issue of prevention at all. there is no -- you know, what are we doing to help -- for instance, if you had a mental health professional in all of our schools, these are people who are trained to be able to look at behavior and preventive side and recommend treatment.

we have to address that in a way that doesn't bridge people's privacy rights, but allows us to be able to, again, prevent, you know, a tragedy from happening. but we have done little to focus as a nation and have a national discussion on addressing an emergency in mental health. and i will just go back to what i was talking about about children. we do not draet address children and trauma. that is a public health issue. which we have to face. >> a bigger problem down the road. >> it becomes a bigger problem. >> leave it there, congresswoman rosa delora from connecticut who has been up there dealing with this with your delegation. our condolences and good luck to you next year. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> all right. we've got some developing news on the fiscal cliff negotiations. plan bs are being put into potential motion. our gaggle will be here next to discuss that. but first, we leave you with the

white housout menu of the day. minestrone chicken sausage. i believe this is a new one. it just feels like a fancy way to see leftovers. don't forget to check out the website. we'll be right back. last minut. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. by december 22nd oh, let me guess --ou see this? more washington gridlock. no, it's worse -- look, our taxes are about to go up. not the taxes on our dividends though, right? that's a big part of our retirement. oh, no, it's dividends, too. the rate on our dividends would more than double. but we depend on our dividends to help pay our bills. we worked hard to save. well, the president and congress have got to work together to stop this dividend tax hike. before it's too late.

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i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios developing news right now. republican speaker john boehner is telling the house that he will introduce a plan b on tax rates. danielle, communications director from american crossroads, jonathan clegio for the "hill" newspaper. i'll start with you. we know the negotiations in the white house have been going okay. they're swapping proposals. i think they're a lot closer.

they both want to pretend they're not closer. but now the plan bs are in motion because time is of the essence. this plan b is different from the senate plan b which is simply to extend to 250. >> i think it's more than okay. i think this is really evidence that they want to move and they want this to be done with. plan b is let everyone vote for what they want to vote for and then held a vote on what they don't like. and it's a way out. >> it's a two vote situation. >> the two bills. >> boehner will throw this bill out there, maybe another one and the 250 & half is done. because everyone wants the senate vote to oppose. and that's fine. but i think this really is evidence that john boehner wants to not go over the cliff and i think the president has given, as well. i think they want to -- >> all right. jonathan and danielle, your respective bases don't like what each has done. danielle, i'll start with you. i think we give so much attention to the tax issue. the president's big give was not on taxes. the big give, if you will, was

on this changing of the consumer price index which has a direct impact on social security benefits. something that i know some members of the progressive community said should be off limits. what happens? the president has given on this deal and we're not even done with negotiations. >> well, i think the details still have to come out, but from what i'm reading, there will be some exceptions for the most vulnerable communities, meaning the super elderly, veterans, disable. so i think that progresses are -- you know, at the top they're like, i don't like the way this sounds, but i think we're going to have to wait and see exactly there are some exceptions that are carved out. but everybody knew going into this that both sides were going to have to give. so i don't think this comes as a huge shock to people. the devil is in the details. i think we have to wait to see that. but both sides are moving. and amy is right. they want a deal. they don't want to go over there cliff. >> they both want a deal because they want to do some big in 2013. that ultimately is the issue. if they don't get a deal, there will be personal recrimination

peps. >> speaker boehner has the toughest job in washington. the way to do ta is to make sure we're talking about balance here. i think that he's done that. the president's first offer at the table didn't mean a lot of spending cuts. republicans have been burned on tax increases before where you've had immediate tax increases followed by spending cuts that never materialize. >> heritage action, both for club trash boehner's offer, the sort of counteroffer that he made over the weekend, which was a big give on tax trade. >> he's in a tough situation. remember they also came out against him in the debt limit talks back in the summer of 2000. so that's a fact of life. he's trying to extract the maximum amount of cuts he can. >> they really aren't that far apart, right? >> oh, no. >> the threshold, $400,000 is where the house is. they're at $1 million. there's 700,000. one wants $1 trillion in tax

hikes, one wants $1.2. the speaker's office says, 1.3. we're really fighting over two. sometimes in this country, 200 billion is a lot of money and sometimes money. republicans tell me, oh, no, it's a lot. a big difference. >> at this hour, at this hour, it's nothing. just of the fact, like i said, that they're always going to lose that growth. that's their job. no matter what boehner offers, and he knows that going. the president said, the white house said, this is not our final offer. >> they're going to move again. the question is where. and maybe -- what boehner's demanding is more on the cuts. they felt it wasn't really balanced because they counted interest. when we come back, tim scott, another senator. more from "the gaggle." busy week.

it is very important to me

as a minority female that congressman scott earned this seat. he earned the seat for the person that he is. he earned the seat for the results he has shown. he earned this seat for what i know he's going to do in making south carolina and making our country proud. >> let's bring back "the gaggle," daniela gibbs-leger. a.b. stoddard. >> we know we have issues with nonwhite america. >> yes. >> can tim scott help? >> no. and i feel -- i felt pained when i heard her have to keep saying "he earned it, he earned it." why do you have to keep saying? that republicans have been good

about putting people of color on stage and they deserve some credit for that. but when you look at their po policies, that's what turns off people of color. >> that has been the issue. as daniela points out, the people on stage look like america. president bush's cabinet looked like america. but it is not translating. >> well, also, the democrats heavily target the black republicans in congress. allen white has had one of the hardest re-election fights. mia love, they spent a lot of money knocking her down as a challenger in utah. he's a conservative. >> i was just going to say, who's going to have the hardest time, nikki haley or tim scott? >> i don't know, lindsey graham probably the most. as somebody who has covered the

republicans since 1984, i think it's great that there's an african-american. >> christmas is a week from today, and i'm really hoping that everyone will spend an hour online finding out how they can help the survivors of the shootings. there's a great piece on "usa today." >> jonathan? >> my wife rebecca's birthday yesterday. happy birthday, happy. >> the upcoming gun debate. and a.b.'s point, united way has great stuff going on in connecticut. >> richard engel, you know, you'll never pay for a dirink with anybody at nbc. chris jansing is live coming up.

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